Puddles of Memories
by LastCetra
Summary: Cloud is trying not to entertain any dubious thoughts of Aeris while she's missing. But unfortunately for him, his mind just wants to wander, and think the strangest things...Cloud x Aeris


**Puddles of Memories**

_**By LastCetra**_

It was raining. Deep puddles were growing on the streets, and torrents of water splashed and gurgled through the drains and down the rooftops. Anybody looking outside at the Wutaian landscape would have described it as the very picture of loneliness. Every nook was empty, every shop vacant. Nobody dared to venture out in such weather. Well, there was the exception of one person, as there is an exception to every rule.

Cloud was waiting for her. She said she would be gone for only a few minutes, but it had been nearly an hour already. What the hell was she doing? He knew she had a tendency to run off on her own; often he had crept out of his tent to find her missing. When he found her, she was usually exploring the woods near where they had camped, or sitting on a sandy beach watching the waves crash in on the shore. Today was no different. She had just smiled at him as she went outside, and ran off to search for something new to discover. In the _pouring _rain. _Without a coat._

Yes, it was true. Wutai was a beautiful town. It had wonderful architecture, its culture was exciting and different and there were awe-inspiring views from the top of the Da Chao, but not when it was raining, and even more so when you weren't carrying a coat! Knowing her, she probably thought that now would be the perfect time to scale the mountain, especially when there was more water available in the town than Leviathan could conjure in a thousand years. What if she slipped, and fell plummeting to her doom, like Don Corneo? What if the Don was still alive at the bottom of that crevice? The two of them, alone with no chance for her to escape...

Cloud felt really, _really _light-headed. He sat down sharply on one of the cushions in the Turtle's Paradise and admonished himself silently. That would never happen. She'd probably knock him unconscious, then cast cure. Actually, that would be exactly what she'd do...

Did she even have a cure materia? She'd left her staff at Yuffie's house, but she always brought her bangle with her. No, he was sure that materia was on the staff, but at least she had her healing powers. But she'd have to be angry or desperate to use them. Then again, Don Corneo could make her angry enough to use them, but then he wouldn't need to be cured...

This was idiocy. He was going around in circles, and anyway, the thought process served no purpose! Don Corneo was dead. D-E-A-D. As a doornail. Taken care of. Sleeping with the fishes. Gone, resting in peace, deceased, passed on, departed. Dead!

Why couldn't she have run away in a town that didn't have a supposedly dead Don Corneo? After all, if it had been Kalm, or Rocket Town, there were only so many places you could run off to. Unless she found a way to get that rocket moving...

A small, delicate hand on his shoulder pulled him violently away from his reverie and sent him hurtling back to reality. He looked up to stare at Tifa, her face a mask of concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked worriedly. "You look a little pale. Have you been getting enough sleep lately?"

"I'm fine," he assured. "Honestly."

"Alright," she said warily. "Just, don't overdo it, okay?"

A pink blur shot past the window and barged through the door. Though soaked to the skin, a contagious grin permeated her features. Her hair was unbound and was splayed everywhere; the ribbon had become lost somewhere along the way. She looked around briefly, creating a pool of water underneath her feet before she saw Cloud. She ran over to him, grabbed his hand and pulled him up. He shrugged helplessly to Tifa as he was dragged out the door.

"Aeris!" he called as she gained some distance ahead of him. "Where have you- What happened to your red jacket?"

"Oh that?" she said off-handedly. "I was climbing the Da Chao and I slipped, when I fell through a tree which saved my life but tore my jacket to shreds which is a shame really, cause I loved it so much."

Cloud's eyes widened and he caught her shoulders. He looked her up and down quickly.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "You don't look hurt. How far did you fall? Where exactly on the Da Chao did it happen? Was it anywhere near where Don Corneo fell?"

Aeris' face clouded over in confusion briefly over the mention of Don Corneo, but brushed it aside quickly and gave him an incredulous look.

"Cloud?"

"What?"

"Stop being so gullible. I was lying."

The blond man rolled his eyes and made a noise halfway between a sigh and a laugh.

"So, where's your jacket?"

"It's in Yuffie's house."

"Oh." He couldn't help but feel utterly ridiculous.

"Hey," she said softly. He looked at her. She was smiling warmly, a smile that she always seemed to reserve for him. Strangely, he never wanted her to smile for anyone else when he saw her like that. It always had the ability to change something inside him. He couldn't, for the life of him however, explain what it was.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'm not mad." Which was true. He meant every word. Aeris' smile deepened. To Cloud, it was infectious. The sides of his own mouth twitched upwards.

"Come on," she said, taking his hand. "I want you to see something."

Cloud permitted her to lead him through the water logged streets of Wutai, barely noticing anymore the drops of rain that were seeping into his clothing. He knew that in two or three days, they were going to make him suffer the worst cold in human history, but at that moment, it barely seemed relative. How was she able to do this to him? Why, when he was around her, could he put reason and logic to the side to make her happy? Why was he willing to do stupid things, over and over, if it would make her smile? How was she able to walk through the walls he'd so carefully put up to block people out? To her, his walls were nothing more than paper.

It didn't matter. Part of him wanted her to see what he had hidden. Part of him wanted her to desperately find the part of himself that he no longer acknowledged or recognised. He wanted her to meet the real Cloud, whoever he was.

Aeris took such a convoluted route to her destination that Cloud began to wonder where she was leading him, though it soon became clear. Eventually he saw it in the distance; an empty playground. Aeris broke away from him and walked ahead.

"It's like the one in Midgar," she remarked, pushing the swings idly as she passed by. Cloud noted the nostalgia in her voice. "Everything's the same. Granted, the slide has a chocobo instead of a moogle but I think it's nice." She stopped and examined it for a moment. She briefly looked at Cloud, than the slide, and back at Cloud again. A wry grin spread across her face, but she said nothing.

"Just say it," Cloud deadpanned.

"Say what?" she asked innocently, climbing up the stairs on the back of the slide. She blocked her face with a curtain of hair, a face that was turning an alarming shade of red.

"I got it all the time when I was a kid, so it's not like I haven't heard it before."

Aeris slid to the bottom of the slide. "Heard what?" she asked. Cloud walked over to her and gently pulled her hair back. Her bottom lip was quivering from the effort it took to keep a straight face.

"That I'm a chocobo-head," he said simply.

The Ancient put her head on her knees and started shaking. Cloud let go of her hair and moved over to the swing. He kicked off and soon was swooping high, up and down, all the while listening to the beautiful laughter, _her _beautiful laughter that carried like wind-chimes. He watched her, amused at how hilarious she found it.

"You okay?" he asked, once she had sat up properly. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she nodded. Cloud jumped off the swing as it reached its zenith and landed nimbly on his feet. He walked over and sat down next to the drenched brunette. They sat there for a while, neither of them speaking, but not feeling the need to either.

"Cloud?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Where do you think we go when we die?"

"What brought this on?" he asked with a laugh.

"Nothing really," she said quietly. "I was just thinking about it, that's all."

"Well," he started. "Remember what Bugenhagen-"

"I remember what he said," she interrupted. "But our souls, our memories. What happens to those?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "I guess, I never really thought about it."

"Do you think, that maybe, we go back to when we were happiest?" she asked. Her voice held a subdued tone that Cloud had never heard before.

"I suppose it's possible." Somehow, he felt like he needed to give her the answers, and was frustrated that he couldn't. Even though he knew she wasn't pressuring him, he wanted to ease any worries she had away. He wanted to do more than just be her bodyguard. He wanted to be the person who was always there, the person who would hold her if she needed holding, or the person who would look after her if she became sick.

"Then," she said, softly but firmly. Her eyes were distant, staring off into some unknown space. "I think I'd like to be here. Travelling with you, being with you, it's the happiest I've ever been."

Cloud felt something tug sharply in his chest. It was so strong, it was almost too painful to experience. Nevertheless, he remained silent, and waited patiently for her to continue. Her words were said slowly, as if every one needed to be said perfectly.

"Our time, these moments we have together. They're very similar to these puddles, don't you think?" She gestured to the gathering watery pools around their feet.

"What?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"Cloud. Our moments, these puddles. They may be here now, but by the time tomorrow comes, they'll be gone. But it doesn't mean that they didn't affect people. It doesn't mean that they didn't exist, you know?"

She shivered. Unable to offer her a coat, Cloud put his arm around her. Blushing slightly, Aeris looked at the ground. Neither of them noticed the rain pouring down. For all they cared, it could have been a raging typhoon. They were too caught up in themselves, in each other.

"You'll remember these moments too, right?" she asked, though it sounded more like a plea than a question. "Will you remember us, here?"

It was like a spell had been cast over them, and though their conversation had ended, they refused to move from where they were sitting. If they did, the veracity of their lives would once more come into play, and they would assume the roles of friendship again. Everything here would belong only in memory, to be recollected in times when life couldn't get in the way.

A roll of thunder erupted from the sky, followed quickly by a flash of lightning. Aeris jumped slightly, not afraid of it but surprised at how sudden it all came about. Their eyes locked briefly for a moment, but then they looked away. Cloud stood up. He extended his hand to Aeris.

"We'd better head back," he said. "It's too dangerous to stay."

"You're right," she agreed, taking his hand. Slowly they walked towards the exit of the playground. At the entrance, Cloud turned to Aeris. She looked at him, emerald eyes sparkling in curiosity. He leaned forward hesitantly, and placed a tentative kiss on the top of her hair.

"I won't forget," he said quietly. "Just thought you should know that." Aeris hand raised up to touch her brown locks, her body still tingling from the brief sensation of his lips.

"I know," she said, breathless, happy.

It was in silence they left the empty playground, their time together kept secret by the pounding rain.

_Moments...by the time tomorrow comes, they'll be gone. But it doesn't mean that they didn't affect people. It doesn't mean that they didn't exist, you know?_

**The End.**

_**Author's note:**_

_**I always wanted to do a Cloud and Aeris rain fic! This was so much fun to do, and I absolutely love how it turned out. It has been a while since I've written something I've been obscenely happy with. It just seemed to flow nicely, and though it started out kind of funny and light-hearted it grew into something much deeper.**_

_**That, and I am so proud of my puddle analogy. Yes I know, I have no shame. Oh, I'm not sure, but I think "Puddles of Memories" is the title of one of the fruits basket dvds. Better credit that before I could get in trouble. . **_

_**Anyway, reviews are welcomed! I hope everyone enjoyed, and thanks for taking the time to read my fanfic.**_

_**LastCetra.**_


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